One of the significant problems or complaints of homeowners and even plumbers about the process of unclogging drains is that drain snakes or the like, when they are withdrawn from drains, are debris-laden and wet. The problems of dirty drain-cleaning implements are well known and, for example, are mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,776 (Kaye).
Left wet, the snake (and perhaps other metal parts) may be damaged by rust and/or corrosion. And the accumulation of wet, dirty debris within the snake-containing cavity can (and usually does) cause objectionable odors. Cleaning and drying of drain augers is a disagreeable task complicated by the fact that special steps, perhaps including auger disassembly, are typically required to remove the dirt and dry the snake. And the more difficult the task of dirt removal and drying, the less likely it is to be conscientiously performed each time a drain is cleaned.
Drain-cleaning augers, sometimes called plumber's tools, are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,828,133 (Silverman); 3,609,788 (Mier); 3,727,261 (Levine); 4,944,465 (Levine) and 4,956,889 (Kirk). Others are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,317,247 (Levine); 4,290,162 (Agostino); 3,897,602 (Waterburg); 4,218,802 (Babb et al.); 4,287,630 (Perez); 4,716,613 (Irwin) and 4,364,139 (Babb et al.). Types of centrifugal dryers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,162 (Sontheimer et al.) and 1,080,700 (Kranebiel).
The prior patents noted above fail to recognize the problem of cleaning a wet, dirty drain auger and therefore, fail to suggest a solution. An improved powered drain auger which is easily cleaned and which has features to prevent entry of debris into the auger cavity would be an important advance in the art.